Can Red Bull’s Ricciardo win his third straight grand prix?
There are seven races left this season, beginning with Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix on the 3.6-mile (5.793-kilomter), 11-turn Monza circuit. Rosberg currently holds a 29-point lead over his Mercedes teammate, Hamilton, while Ricciardo trails by 64 points.
While driving for Toro Rosso, Ricciardo finished 12th in the Italian GP in 2012 and then seventh in this race last year. In the 2011 event at Monza, he was not classified, as he completed less than 90 percent of the 53-lap distance. Ricciardo drove for the now-defunct F1 team HRT three years ago.
Ricciardo has very high hopes of a strong finish in this weekend’s Italian GP, even possibly capturing his third win in a row. He’s also looking ahead to the next couple of races — the Sept. 21 Singapore Grand Prix and the Oct. 5 Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka.
“I think if we can get through Monza well and bag a few points here that would be very good,” Ricciardo said. “Monza is a high-speed track that is probably not too much to our liking. So the next two races – Singapore and Suzuka – are the ones that we are really looking forward to.
“But I still do expect the Mercedes to be strong at every circuit, so then the question would be if we can be as quick as them. For this, both Singapore and Suzuka would be our best shots, and if all goes well, we could even try to go for pole and a race win at either of these races.”
Ricciardo struggled in Friday’s practice. His best lap time in the opening session was clocked in 1 minute, 28.487 seconds. Hamilton had the quickest lap in 1:26.187, while Rosberg was second fastest (0.623 seconds behind Hamilton).
In the second session, Rosberg improved somewhat with a lap in 1:26.992. Rosberg topped the charts in P2 (1:26.225), followed by Hamilton (who was only 0.061 seconds behind).
“We didn’t get much running this morning due to an engine issue, but it was okay, and we recovered well in the afternoon,” Ricciardo said. “The track is always fun here. For a track with so few corners, it’s very challenging and with the low downforce braking it’s very difficult. Obviously, we want to be a bit further up, but I think we can chip away at it tomorrow [Saturday’s final practice followed by qualifying].
“The Mercedes will be quick, but if we can sneak into the top-five in qualifying then we’ll have a good crack at the race. Getting temperature into the tires is tricky, especially for the first timed lap.”
Ricciardo’s teammate, Sebastian Vettel, the four-time F1 world champion, is the defending winner of the Italian GP. Vettel also claimed his first career F1 pole and grand prix victories here in 2008 when he drove for Toro Rosso. He became the sport’s youngest race winner and pole sitter in ’08 when he was 21 years old.
“Monza is one of the fastest tracks we go to,” Vettel said. “The 5.793-km long track has brutal deceleration points. It’s especially tough on the brakes, and the tires are also heavily loaded, especially in the fast corners, such as the Curva Grande and Parabolica. It is extremely difficult in Monza to get a perfect lap, because it is almost impossible to hit every curve and every chicane in the way you want.”
Vettel’s second win in the Italian GP came in 2011.
Monza is the home race for Ferrari, which has its headquarters located in Maranello, Italy, roughly 125 miles southeast of this circuit.
Since 1950, a Ferrari driver has won the Italian GP 18 times, which is more than any other constructor in F1. Fernando Alonso recently did it for Ferrari in his first year with the team in 2010.
Series: Formula One. Date: Sunday, Sept. 7. Race: Italian Grand Prix. Site: Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Track: 3.6-mile (5.793-kilometer), 11-turn road course. Start Time: 8 a.m. ET. Laps: 53. Miles: 190.58 (306.720 km). 2013 Winner: Sebastian Vettel. Television: NBC Sports Network.
Categorized in: FIA